A beautiful character-driven story that focuses on the reflections of a South American life in the 20th century. I thought the style of the writing as well as the structure in which it was written was beautiful. This book was great historical fiction, but the fact that it's written somewhat like a memoir in the form of a letter adds a personal touch to it that connects with the reader in a tender way.

Absolutely stunning, thank you so much for sending! Isabel Allende's work is always a joy to read, and her care and tenderness within prose is illuminating.

This is historical fiction in its finest form! I thoroughly enjoyed this story and it gripped me from page 1. I genuinely find it difficult to get into historical fiction because they can oftentimes be boring, but this one was incredible! The writing and story was very gripping. Would highly recommend to someone who's just getting into historical fiction!

This story was so interesting and well written, that I never wanted to put it down. The history, recounted over 100 years, was educational, terrifying, beautiful, complicated and simplified. Violeta is a strong, ambitious, independent woman, who is determined to make a difference. So glad I found this book - highly recommend!

Isabel Allende’s writing is beautiful and moving as always. Forever an auto read author for me as she never lets the reader down.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Unfortunately, this was not for me. I was unable to get past the first few chapters. I believe this is just an issue of my taste not aligning with the story. I recommend others try it!

Violeta travels through time, depicting the story of a woman born at the beginning of the 1918 pandemic, throuhg her life at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It details her relationships, strife, and memories through the lens of history. I appreciated reading Violeta's story, and the tragedy that she experienced at all ages. This was an intersting tale woven through Latin american history.

5 stars for the book of historical fiction, set in Chile, from 1920 until 2020. It is a series of letters by a grandmother to her grown grandson. Violeta was born during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1920. She lives to be 100 and dies of old age during the coronavirus epidemic.
I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of the author, literary fiction, and historical fiction. The descriptions of life in Chile are vivid. This is the first book that I have read by Isabel Allende.

Thank You Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, for sending me this ebook through NetGalley.

I love Isabel Allende, but Violeta fell short for me. I wasn’t invested in her as a character, and the plot was never ending. I wanted to root for Violeta, but I found her to be selfish and unrelatable.

I enjoyed reading this book! I thought it was interesting and well-written. I look forward to this author’s next work!

VIOLETA by Isabel Allende, written by way of a letter from Violeta and is addressed to an unknown recipient named Camilo.

Violeta is an interesting character, flawed as we all are to a certain degree—whether we choose to admit it or not—Violeta lays hers bare on the page, beginning in the opening paragraph…

‘Dear Camilo,

My intention with these pages is to leave you a testimony of my life. I imagine someday, when you are old and less busy, you might want to stop and remember me. You have a terrible memory since you’re always so distracted, and that defect gets worse with age. I think you’ll see that my life story is worthy of a novel, because of my sins more than my virtues. You have received many of my letters, where I’ve detailed much of my existence (minus the sins), but you must make good on your promise to burn them when I die, because they are overly sentimental and often cruel….’

As interesting as Violeta’s life is to read about, the form in which it’s told is a difficult one to stay absorbed in, resulting in a did-not-finish for me at eighty-one percent.

Thank You, NetGalley and Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House LLC), for providing me with an eBook of VIOLETA at the request of an honest review.

Via a love letter, Violetta tells the story of her life, from her birth through the Great War, Spanish Flu, Great Depression, etc. It's part historical fiction, part romance, and all beautifully written as you have come to expect from Isabel Allende. You should read this.

I like this author and I did like this book. But it just never really reached out and grabbed me. I appreciated all the historical significance and events. The writing is really good. It is just one of those books for me that I just couldn’t completely connect to.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance read copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. My apologies for being so late to post this..

How many times have we thought, man my grandparents lived through so much. They should write their story in a book. That is what this is. This is the story of Violeta who was born in 1920 and died in 2020. A sentimental legacy. Starting with a pandemic and ending with one. She lives in South America and saw so much in her life. We see how everything from the mundane to the catastrophic affected her and her family. Her life was far from perfect. She had highs and lows. The story is told in a way that moves at just the right pace to fully appreciate her.

I recommend this book to my friends who enjoy literary fiction, strong female characters and tie ins to current events.

Sweeping and heartfelt story spanning from the Spanish flu to Coronavirus. Violeta de Valle, born in 1920 and experiencing her last days, decides to write her life story to her beloved grandson, Camilo. She recounts a century of love, loss, war, struggle, illness and every other experience she thrived in or endured during her 100 years of life. Beautifully captured through mesmerizing storytelling, Allende takes the reader on an adventure through one woman’s amazing journey. This is my first book by this author and I found her writing to be captivating and rich with color and details that painted a picture in my mind. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Available now

The book had a great summary that hooked me in and the cover was visually appealing to me. Compared to the other books I read, I couldn't bring myself to get invested in any of the characters and it didn't have the same magic as The House of Spirits.

I wanted to love this, I really did. The story of a woman born during one pandemic who is dying during another is pretty intriguing. And I did like Violeta and her story, and many other characters, especially Torito. But there were things about it that bugged me. The setting is obviously Chile, but it's always called "my country." I also didn't love the format, it's written addressed to her grandson, which is jarring at times and downright took me out of the story at the end. Events that are pretty life-changing are referred to without much detail, while politics are overly detailed, so you feel somewhat distanced from the main character. I seem to be in the minority though and many others loved it.

I couldn’t put this book down. I found myself completely engrossed from the first page. I was so curious as to what Violeta would reveal at each outcome. I found the characters compelling, amusing and eclectic their place in her life interesting.

The story was by no means cloying, in fact I found Violeta’s history heartbreaking, tragic and beautiful. The story was extremely realistic demonstrating the trials and tribulations of life to the fullest. I do wish Allende delved into Violeta’s personality deeper as opposed to merely telling of Violeta’s choices and circumstances.

Allende never disappoints with her storytelling. Violeta is a comprehensive story of a woman, her family and the turns life takes us. I appreciate the details, the many characters and how Allende masterfully weaves everything together beautifully. I was fond of the ending and I found the ‘letter’ concept wholly authentic. Allende fans will thoroughly find Violeta satisfying.

A sweeping tale of the ups and downs of a woman's life. I really enjoyed it because it's set in a part of the world I knew little about. This was also the first book I've read that mentioned the global pandemic at all (not a big part, but a passing mention).

<i> “José Antonio volvió a pedirle por enésima vez que se casara con él, y ella le reiteró como siempre que nunca lo haría, pero no le dio la única explicación que él hubiera entendido: ya estaba casada en espíritu con Teresa Rivas..”

“habíamos hecho voto ante Dios y la sociedad de amarnos y respetarnos hasta la muerte. Eso es mucho tiempo. Si yo hubiera sospechado cuán larga puede ser la vida, habría modificado esa cláusula del contrato matrimonial”

“Evitaba manifestaciones románticas o sentimentales, las consideraba sospechosas. Si se ama de verdad, ¿qué necesidad hay de proclamarlo?.”

</i>
<b>Isabel Allende </b>, una de las grandes autoras contemporáneas que tenemos aún la dicha de contar entre las filas de escritores vivos, ha vuelto a hacerlo. En Violeta encuentras su característica e imborrable huella en prosa y estructura. Un personaje que fue dibujado perfectamente, a través de los ojos de él mismo, que sufrió la ingrata transformación del tiempo y ve todo por medio del lente de la experiencia, va narrando su vida a su nieto Camilo. Una vida bastante larga y por tanto, interesante. Desde sus primeras experiencias como niña malcriada hasta la caída en desgracia de su familia(lo que le dio la fuerza y el temple para llegar a crear su propio imperio, a pesar de las adversidades contra su género en la época).

Te pierdes en sus paginas desde el principio, igual que cualquier otra obra de la misma creadora. Aunque al final, pareciera que el lenguaje que conforma el libro nos brinda un poco de lo mismo (te queda el sabor de las mismas historias). Por otro lado, aparece la duda, si este libro es continuación de alguno de sus otros libros por la alusión a los apellidos y personajes. En definitiva, se necesita releer cada obra y hacer una linea del tiempo.

Recomendable.